


All The Moments In Between

by IncendiaGlacies



Series: Matchmaker AU [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, Human!Gideon, Matchmaker AU, Matchmaking, Missing Scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-16 05:50:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12336726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncendiaGlacies/pseuds/IncendiaGlacies
Summary: Happily ever afters are great, but that's not where the story is. A collection of missing moments from my Timeship Matchmaker AU: Gideon's Six Month Guide to Meeting Your Soulmate.Ch2: Gideon burst out, “I know it’s irrational. I know you don’t want to get back together with her, or at least you’d never cheat on me. But I hate it. I hate how insecure I get whenever she’s around, how I want to cry every time she makes you laugh, I hate the sick feeling in my stomach whenever you mention what you loved about her. And I hate that I’m constantly comparing myself to her. I told you it was stupid. Jealousy is stupid, unattractive, illogical and just messy. And I hate that you made me feel this way.”As Rip and Gideon approach their one month anniversary, they come to realize that just because they’re finally together doesn’t mean all the hard work is done. Also known as the jealousy fic.Characters, tags and summary will be updated as chapters are updated.





	1. Of Brothers and Best Men

**Author's Note:**

> Some much needed fluff after the season premiere last night. So enjoy some Timeship and Atomship!
> 
> (If you haven't read 'Gideon's Six Month Guide to Meeting Your Soulmate', I'd do that first...)

Rip groaned as his alarm clock rang and pulled him from his dreams. He reached out and blindly turned it off before rolling over and pulling his bedmate into his arms.

“Mm, no, don’t want to wake up,” Gideon complained into his neck.

Rip let out a soft laugh, “Sadly we have to. And stop stealing all the covers.”

“But they’re so warm and nice, almost as nice as you,” Gideon hummed as she snuggled closer to him.

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Rip commented flippantly, “Probably because you got all the covers.”

“Complain all you want, but you’re the one that proposed to me. You love me and want to marry me.” Rip had to strain himself to hear Gideon’s muffled words into his shirt.

“Well by the fact that you have that ring on your finger still, I’m assuming you didn’t change your mind overnight and still want to marry me,” Rip ran a finger over the glittering ring.

Gideon looked at her ring, then back at him, and kissed him softly, “Of course I do.”

“Good,” Rip cupped her face with a smile. He moved the covers and sat up on the bed, watching Gideon play with the ring on her finger, “You know you can take it off if you like. You don’t have to wear it all the time.”

Gideon gave him a hurt look, “Do you not want people to know about us?”

Rip snorted, “You make it sound like we’re in an illicit affair. Honestly, our friends figured us out before we did. I’m sure they already know we’re engaged at this point, even without me telling them my plans. I want to shout it from the rooftops-”

“You are so cheesy,” Gideon teased.

“Says the woman that makes me watch romcom marathons with her,” Rip shot back. Gideon shrugged easily; he still wanted to marry her. Rip took her hands in his, “I’m saying you can take it off because I know how restless and distracted you get. You’ll probably want to play with it all the time, and then you’ll complain about how it distracted you from your coding.”

“When have I ever blamed you for my work troubles? Except for being a horrible client.”

“Only because I was hopelessly in love with you,” Rip pointed out with a goofy grin.

“And you didn’t realize it until I dropped you! Leonard’s right, we really do live in a Hallmark movie,” Gideon muttered.

“Please don’t tell him that. He’ll be even more insufferable,” Rip groaned.

Gideon smiled at him and got back to the topic at hand, “I’m not taking it off. I love it.” Rip really should have seen that coming. For someone who barely even wore any jewelry, Gideon loved every little trinket he bought her. Not that he would count an engagement ring as a trinket, but still.

“Alright then,” Rip agreed easily. He loved seeing the ring on her finger anyways. He got out of bed and stretched. When he turned back he saw a frown on his fiancé’s (he loved that word) face. “Now what’s wrong?”

“When you were married to Miranda-”

“I thought we agreed we wouldn’t talk about my ex-wife in the bedroom?”

“Shut up,” Gideon ordered with a roll of her eyes, “It’s just that you said you didn’t really wear the wedding ring when you were married before.”

“Is there a question in there?”

“A request,” Gideon corrected softly, “Will you wear your ring this time? All the time? Or at least, you know, most of the time? I mean, I don’t want to force you into-”

Rip leaned down and silenced her with a kiss, “You spend too much time with Felicity.” Gideon huffed as she blushed slightly. Rip stroked her cheek as he spoke, “If that’s what you want, then I would be more than happy to. I don’t have a problem with the ring, it just didn’t seem like a big deal before. But if it’s important to you, then of course I’ll wear it. I love you.”

He kissed her again before moving back, “You getting up now?”

“I miss the old days when you used to bring me coffee in bed,” Gideon pouted as she bundled up in the blankets around her.

“Yes well, we’re engaged now. Might as well lower your expectations now before the marraige,” Rip joked.

“Well that seems highly rude of you, Mr. Hunter,” Gideon taunted.

“Doctor Hunter,” Rip corrected, “Why is it that you can put Doctor for Ray and Nate – who you barely even tolerate at times, but you can’t for your own fiancé? I do happen to have a PhD.”

“Because it annoys you,” Gideon gave the same answer, as always, “Besides I’ll be Mrs. Hunter soon enough anyways.”

Rip could feel the smile on his face at that, “Yes you will. Now come on, we really do need to be somewhat presentable. We need to tell Jonas the news.”

“He doesn’t already know?”

“He was asleep when we came back, remember? I might have hid the ring in his room, but he doesn’t know you said yes.” He had to hide the ring in Jonas’ room, Leonard still had a penchant for going through all of Rip’s things. But the man at least respected Jonas’ privacy. Though you would think, news that he was going to be a father would make him stop the petty thievery.

“Of course I said yes. What else would I say?” Gideon snorted as she took Rip’s hand and let him drag her out of bed. Rip was the only man she had ever truly been in love with, why would she ever say no to him?

Still, Gideon did as she was asked and got dressed while Rip made the bed. After they both freshened up, they headed down for breakfast and found Jonas setting out plates for all of them.

“This is a nice surprise. Did you make breakfast for us?” Rip asked as he watched his son.

“I made toast, tea and coffee. And tried my hand at scrambled eggs, no promises though. But I think they’re still better than Gideon’s.”

“Rude!” Gideon narrowed her eyes, Jonas grinned at her in response. Just like his father. Then she realized he was probably right and she shouldn’t be so annoyed.

“I didn’t bother with the bacon though, I left it for you. Last time I tried you freaked out about the oil splattering everywhere,” Jonas reminded his father with a smile on his face.

Rip decided he didn’t like the sass from his now teenage son. He also didn’t like it when Jonas was right. “You could have gotten burned,” Rip defended his actions. Though he should probably let Jonas cook more, so he didn’t end up like Gideon. Not that she was a bad cook, she just, wasn’t that good. “Thank you, son.” Rip wrapped an arm around his son for a side hug, he was nearly as tall as Gideon now. Soon he’d be as tall as Rip if he continued like this. Jonas easily turned to give his father a proper hug, which was a nice surprise. Normally he argued that he was too old for it.

Rip let his son go and headed to the stove so he could finish making breakfast for them. Behind him, Jonas smiled at Gideon and looked at her hand.

“So you said yes?” Jonas asked excitedly.

Gideon twisted the ring on her finger and nodded, “Yes. Is that alright with you?”

Jonas rolled his eyes – Gideon could see all of Rip and Miranda’s best and worst qualities in him. “Of course I am. I love you Gideon.” Jonas came over and wrapped his arms around Gideon as well, “I’m really happy you said yes. You were already family, but now it’s official.”

“I love you too, Jonas. I’m glad you’re happy,” Gideon smiled. As much as she loved Rip, Jonas would always hold a special place in her heart. She knew she could never replace his mother – nor did she want to – but as far as Gideon was concerned, Jonas was her son. In every way.

“Well I figure the two of you are living a romcom, not a fairytale. So you’re not going to end up being one of those evil stepmothers,” Jonas teased as he pulled away.

“I am banning Len from this house,” Rip announced as he brought over a plate of bacon to the table.

“You’re mad cause it’s true,” Jonas singsonged.

Rip ruffled his son’s hair much to his consternation, “Eat your food. And thank you for breakfast, it was a really nice gesture.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Jonas started sweetly.

Rip sighed as he sat down at the table, Gideon across from him and Jonas in between them. He crossed his arms, “Alright, what is it, and why am I not going to like it?”

“Midnight premiere of Friday the Thirteenth,” Jonas begged.

“No!” Rip scolded, “We already talked about this. It is far too scary to watch in the middle of the night. And without parents, and, and – I’m not even going to be able to drive you that late!”

“Please, Dad? Steven’s dad said he’d drive us. And Calvin’s older brother is in town so he’ll be there too. Please?”

Rip exchanged a look with Gideon who merely shrugged. Rip gave her an unimpressed look. She hardly ever wanted to disappoint Jonas. If it had to do with his safety, she would be the first to put a stop to it, but everything else was fair game with her. Rip sighed and closed his eyes, feeling the regret already, “I will talk to Steven’s dad and see what he thinks. Then I will make my decision.”

Rip raised his voice for the latter half to show his seriousness but Jonas was already giving him a hug in thanks. Rip automatically hugged back from muscle memory. Besides, he probably didn’t have many hugs left now that his son was hitting the teenage years. Rip waited until Jonas had settled back down before striking the bargain, “If I let you go to the movie, then you have to do game night on Saturday.”

“But-” Jonas quieted his complaints as he saw his dad’s patented ‘Dad Look’. It always got even Sara to behave as well.  Though really, it wasn’t much of a chore, “Alright fine. Besides, game night’s fun. And I miss Kendra. I’ll be there.”

“Good, because we’re breaking the news of our engagement then. Or rather dealing with the fallout of me not telling anybody that this was happening – except for Ray.” Well the fallout of the fallout, no doubt everyone would find out over the week and demand answers right then and there. Maybe that meant game night would be slightly less chaotic than he expected.

“How did you manage to get Ray to keep a secret? Especially as big as this?” Gideon asked as she munched on her toast.

“Very, very diligently,” Rip said tiredly, “But I had to ask for permission, didn’t I?”

“You’re so-”

“Old fashioned?” Jonas supplied. Rip glared at that while his son shrugged, “It’s what mom always says.”

“Of course she does,” Rip muttered under his breath.

“I was going to say traditional,” Gideon offered as a compliment. Rip gave her a look that clearly meant he didn’t find the term much better. Gideon chose to move on, “Still, why Ray?”

Rip shrugged stiffly as he took a sip of his tea and shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable. “Well, traditionally I would ask your father, but-”

“I don’t have one,” Gideon stated bluntly. Rip frowned at the look on her face and reached out to place a hand over hers. Jonas did the same with her other and Gideon gave a small smile.

“No,” Rip accepted quietly, “But you have family. You’ve always said Ray is your brother. Who else was I going to ask?”

“Right, that makes sense,” Gideon looked down at her food, a strange look on her face, “Ray’s my family.” The only family she had for a long time until she met Rip and Jonas.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, okay, okay! Shut up you people!” Sara yelled at the crowd in Rip’s house. Slowly all the conversation came to an end.

“Well I see being impending motherhood hasn’t dampened her wild spirit,” Thea muttered off to the side.

“If anything, I think it’s just gotten worse,” Cisco said from a corner. He then shrunk back under Leonard and Sara’s glares.

“I’m pregnant,” Sara growled. “I am tired, and aching and tired! You try carrying a small human inside of you for nine months and see how you feel!” Sara rebutted with a somewhat frantic look in her eyes. Behind her Leonard rubbed circles in her back to calm her down.

“Amen, sister,” Lily nodded as she remembered her own pregnancy complications.

“Is that why Len isn’t so – I’ll just shut up now,” Barry trailed off as he saw the look on Sara’s face.

“Give it time,” Ray said, “The lack of sleep and diapers and crying will get him too.”

“I helped raise Lisa through her teenage years, I’m used to it,” Len dismissed the worries.

“You didn’t do that great of a job,” Rip muttered under his breath as he recalled their first meeting. The police station really hadn’t been fun.

“Hey I turned out okay!” Lisa complained. Rip smiled at her and pulled the young woman in for a hug. She had done quite well for herself.

“I did a terrific job,” Len dismissed Rip’s comments. They had been friends for too long to really take anything to heart anymore, and they both liked to give each other a hard time. It’s just how their friendship worked. “And we were around when Jonas was still toddling around, remember? I have dad skills.”

“I was an angel,” Jonas interrupted. Kendra began laughing next to him, “You used to pull on my hair for attention. But you were just so cute though! I couldn’t say no to that face.” She pinched his cheek as Jonas batted her hand away. Still he stayed by her side, he really had missed her.

“Are we done discussing baby stuff yet? Some of us are still young and have our lives ahead of us,” Jax spoke up.

“You’re just mad because the invite didn’t extend to your new girlfriend,” Laurel rolled her eyes, “Taking care of a child is no small feat. You have to worry about a lot of things from the moment they’re born. What they’ll eat, wear, where they’ll go to school. Oh that reminds me, Ray, the prep school called back and there’s a waiting list-”

“We are not sending Violet to a prep school, Ray!” Lily argued.

“I’m not saying we will, it’s just a thought. It’s good to have options,” Ray responded. Lily glared at him then turned to Gideon who simply shrugged. Lily married him; Ray was her problem now.

“What kind of school has a waiting list?” Felicity asked.

“All the good ones. You two should start looking into it too,” Laurel pointed out to Oliver and Felicity. Laurel had only been looking around because Ray asked, but also because she wanted to get a jumpstart on being a good aunt.

Felicity started to choke on her drink as Oliver rubbed her back and shot a glare at Laurel. “We do not need to do anything. Because we are not pregnant. Or married, yet. I mean, we still need time to think and, besides not married. Not that there’s anything wrong with being born outside of a marriage!” Felicity aimed the last part to Jonas.

Jonas shrugged, “Mom and Dad got married before I was born. Otherwise I would have been a basta-”

“Jonas!” Rip snapped at him. “I’m changing the Netflix password, I swear!” Rip warned him as he ignored his son’s whines and let Kendra deal with cheering him up. He also ignored the comment about how he and Miranda had said worse things. Which, yes, but also not the point.

“Okay, but the point is, Violet is with Martin and Sara hasn’t popped her baby out yet. And this is game night. So, if we’re done with the baby talk,” Wally reiterated Jax’ point and tried to get the night started.

“Yes,” Sara agreed, “Wedding talk!” Wally let out an audible groan.

Rip stared at them, all in hushed silence, “What else would you people like to know? You’ve already accosted the both of us like hounds this past week and squeezed just about every detail out of us about the proposal!”

“Well you didn’t tell us about it in the first place. Honestly Rip, I’m wounded,” Leonard placed a hand over his heart.

“I can’t believe that Ray knew and didn’t tell me,” Lily complained, “His own wife!”

“I was sworn to secrecy! I couldn’t say anything,” Ray argued, “I couldn’t ruin such an important night for Gideon.” Ray grinned at her as she blew a kiss back at him.

“It’s pretty impressive,” Oliver pointed out, “I mean, no offense Ray, but you’re almost as bad as Felicity with secrets!”

“Hey!” Felicity whirled to look at him. Oliver shrugged in response and gave her a look. Felicity had to concede she was pretty bad at keeping secrets.

Ray shrugged, “Well I’ve had practice. I mean, I didn’t tell Gideon she was in love with Rip for all those six months they weren’t dating.”

“It might have been easier if you did,” Gideon frowned in response as she recalled their early days.

“Can we please move on from that?” Rip sighed with his eyes trained on the ceiling. He knew he liked to give Gideon a hard time about it, but he didn’t like to hear about it constantly from their friends. Gideon simply curled into Rip and let him play with her hair to keep his mind off it.

“Of course, moving on,” Sara agreed with a dangerous look in her eyes, “So, proposal’s been discussed. Now the big question, who’s going to be in the wedding party?” Immediately another hush fell over the room as they waited.

Rip and Gideon exchanged looks, both bug-eyed. Rip stuttered, “Well, it’s still really early on. I mean it’s barely been a week. We don’t even have a set date and we’re really just enjoying the engagement bliss right now. We haven’t really discussed –”

“Oh come on Rip, you didn’t get to do the big wedding last time. This is all a part of the fun,” Leonard smirked.

“Would you be opposed to just going to court and signing the papers?” Rip asked Gideon.

“She wants a big wedding,” Ray spoke up, “She’s had like scrapbooks made before.”

Rip raised his eyebrow at her. Gideon blushed and looked away, “I am a matchmaker and I plan weddings on the side among other things. Why would it surprise you that I wanted a fairytale wedding?”

Rip shrugged, “Because up until a few months ago you were pretty dead set against the whole marriage thing all together.”

“Yes well, there was a period of time when I thought I was cursed for failed relationships and I might have given up on the dream.”

“She burned a lot of it,” Ray clarified. “I think there was some of Nate’s stuff in there too actually.” Nate shot a glare at Gideon who merely stuck her tongue out at him.

“Okay, big wedding,” Rip stopped World War Three from breaking out as it always did between his fiancé and friend, “We’ll do it.”

“Well obviously not too big. My list probably goes about as far as everyone in this room. And maybe a few others from work,” Gideon told him. No extended family to deal with.

“I’ve got my mother and maybe some of the parent’s from Jonas’ friend group?” Rip offered.

“And Mom,” Jonas reminded them. Then with a frown he asked, “You are inviting her, right?”

“Do I have to?” Rip whined.

“Of course we are,” Gideon answered at the same time as him. She glared at Rip for suggesting otherwise. “I want Miranda there, she’s a friend. To both of us!”

“Fine, we’ll invite her. Though I’m fairly certain it’s bad luck to have an ex-wife at the wedding,” Rip warned her.

“You still haven’t told her you’re engaged, have you?” Leonard surmised. Rip would never talk about Miranda so callously otherwise.

“No, I haven’t,” Rip didn’t even bother denying it, “So I hope none of you have gone running your mouths. She will kill me if she hears it from anyone else but me.”

“I think you talk to your ex-wife more than any normal divorced couple does,” Iris said.

Rip shrugged. It was what it was. “The main thing is that she didn’t win any money from the betting pool this time. Really the only reason why I waited as long as I did.”

“You knew about that?” Kendra asked sheepishly.

“You all bet on every significant event in our love life. Honestly, it’s a little scary how invested you are,” Rip lectured them all.

“Okay, guest list is done. Back to the wedding party! Come on you guys!” Sara pleaded with them.

“Well there are just so many of you, I mean you’re all important to us,” Gideon frowned.

“Well just pick the important ones, like Maid of Honor,” Iris hinted.

“Oh um,” Gideon looked around. Both Lily and Felicity had her as their Maid of Honor. She couldn’t pick between them. And Iris had been a very good friend for a long time too. And even then her friend circle had grown exponentially ever since her meeting Rip. The Lance sisters and Kendra were all dear to her now as well. “I really don’t know.”

“Well, why does it have to be Maid of Honor,” Ray grinned, “I mean no offense girls, but I beat out all of you. So, Man of Honor?”

Gideon blinked and fiddled with her ring since Rip had taken her phone for game night, “I think I’ll keep it to Maid of Honor, actually.”

“Oh, okay,” Ray nodded slowly, “No, right, you’d want to keep it traditional. I get that.”

“Don’t even think about it, Haircut!” Leonard suddenly snapped, “I can see where this is going. You can’t start angling for Best Man all of a sudden. That spot is reserved.”

“Hold on, are you assuming that you’re automatically going to be Best Man?” Nate asked, “I’ve known Rip for basically as long as you.”

“Yeah, but you two just don’t bond like me and Rip,” Leonard said.

“I would like to point out that as my best friend, Gideon got to be the Maid of Honor at my wedding. So I think I should have a decent chance here too,” Ray interrupted.

“None of you have any chance, actually. This one’s an easy pick, Jonas is going to be my Best Man,” Rip smiled at his son.

“Awesome!” Jonas grinned.

“Such a copout,” Leonard taunted Rip. The man shrugged, he knew he took the easy way out, but it was the best choice anyways.

“Oh man, but-”

“Jonas is the Best Man,” Gideon stated, interrupting Ray’s complaint.

“Yeah, of course. I mean it’s your son. But you know, you still need to pick groomsmen and I could-”

“No.”

The voice wasn’t Rip. It was Gideon. Rip watched her stern face, but the biting of her lip and the way her fingers gripped the seat gave her away. She was thinking about something. She made this face whenever she was calculating the risk of something. Was she doing this for Rip? Because she thought he didn’t want Ray in the wedding party?

“I’m sure we’ll have enough room in the groomsmen to have Ray in there, and it would let you have more bridesmaids to match up with-”

“No,” Gideon repeated, “I don’t want Ray to be a groomsman.” As soon as she said the words, Gideon realized how they sounded.

“So you don’t want me as Man of Honor, or Best Man, or a groomsman,” Ray said slowly. He let out a harsh laugh, “I’m guessing bridesmaid is out of the conversation too?” Gideon frowned at him some more.

Nate and Felicity exchanged glances before Nate clapped a hand on his best friend’s shoulder, “Dude, I don’t think the dress would look good on you anyways.”

“And besides,” Felicity forced a smile; she knew how it must have hurt Ray to hear this. “There are other parts to play. Like you are an ordained minister.” Ray lit up at that and turned to Rip and Gideon.

Rip had to decline though, “I’m sorry Ray. We’re not even that religious, but my mother is sort of a stickler for properness. She wasn’t too happy with the first ‘wedding’. She’ll probably want everything perfectly proper for this one.”

“Right, no. That’s cool,” Ray looked down with a look in his eyes that made Rip feel like he had kicked a puppy. “I guess it’ll be fun to watch the wedding from the crowd, I’ll get some good photos for sure.” The room held an uncomfortable and tense silence as they bounced back and forth from Ray’s requests to Gideon’s increasingly dismayed face. Everyone knew just how close the two of them were and how far they went back. Seeing the further frown on his best friend’s face, Ray couldn’t help the harshness of his words, “Unless you just don’t want me at the wedding at all?”

“Ray, that’s not what I wa – well don’t leave!” Gideon snapped as she watched Ray pick himself off the floor.

Nate cursed under his breath and locked eyes with Felicity and Lily. The five of them had known each other long enough to know how to handle these fights in their group. Pick a side and keep the dueling parties calm.

Nate grabbed Ray’s arm and pulled the man down next to him, “I pick Ray on my team!”

“I pick Gideon!” Felicity latched onto Gideon’s arm. Neither gave their victim any time to react. The four of them stared at Lily, the tie-breaker. Lily’s eyes widened as she realized she was in the hot seat.

“Caitlin! Be on my team!” Lily begged her friend. Caitlin nodded once. “And since Rip and Gideon are getting married, we’ll take Jonas too!”

Slowly the crowd split into teams. Rip couldn’t help but notice how subdued everyone was from the argument Ray and Gideon had not quite had. He had expected this game night to be even more of a handful than usual, what with the news of the engagement. Instead it was like walking on egg shells. And absolutely awkward to be on Ray’s team. But the only thing Rip really noticed was the sad look in Gideon’s eyes, and how much he wanted to take that pain away.

 

* * *

 

“Knock, knock,” Gideon called as she tapped on the glass walls of Ray’s office.

“What are you doing here?” Ray glanced up at her then back down at his papers strewn over his desk.

“I thought you might like to have lunch?” Gideon offered holding out the Big Belly Burger takeout bag in her hand.

“I already ate. There was a meeting, so,” Ray trailed off barely even looking at her. He was still angry with her. Any other time he would have been excited that Gideon had actually left work to visit him. And brought food with her! Even if he had already eaten.

“Right then,” Gideon looked down as she placed the food on an empty spot on the desk.

“Was there anything else you needed?” Ray asked. His tone was firm, not the usual lighthearted way he always talked to her.

“I wanted to talk,” Gideon crossed her arms as she looked at him. If he wanted to be stubborn, two could play at that game. At the very least, she wanted the chance to explain herself.

“About what?”

“Oh I don’t know, how about the fact that you’re angry with me for no reason whatsoever?” Gideon answered sarcastically.

“No reason?” Ray scoffed, “Gideon, I have multiple PhDs, can you please not insult my intelligence like this? Or yours? You know exactly why I’m angry. My best friend doesn’t want me to have a part in what is probably going to be the happiest day of her life. So sorry for being angry for no reason at all!” Ray didn’t do this. He didn’t get testy with her. If anything, it was usually the other way around. He only ever treated her this way when he was serving her some cold, hard logic that she couldn’t figure out for herself. Like how she was in love with Rip, or that Ray was going to be in her life forever.

“You will be a part of the wedding,” Gideon said quietly looking at the ground.

“Yes, in the audience. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to take good photos. I know you’ll look beautiful,” Ray gave her a soft look. And that was Ray. Even when he was angry with her, he only ever wanted Gideon to be happy.

She watched as he turned his back to her and looked back at the papers. She knew he wasn’t actually reading them, just shuffling them around for something to do.

“You know I always wanted a big wedding when I was little,” Gideon started quietly.

Ray stilled his movements and looked out the window, not at her, “Yeah I know. I remember the scrapbooks. And I remember how hurt you were after Nate dumped you and you had this fantasy about marrying him.”

“Oh goodness,” Gideon blushed as she remembered those memories, “Well we’re all prone to bad decisions at some point. But even when I was a little girl, I would dream about it.” Ray turned around to look at her and waited for her to finish.

Gideon fidgeted as she confessed, “I thought of everything, you know the big poofy white dress, I’d look like a princess. I was determined for my cake to be strawberry flavoured and rainbow coloured because I wanted it to be different.”

“What, no doves?’ Ray joked.

“No, I’m too scared of them pecking my eyes out,” Gideon responded quite seriously. She cleared her throat, “Obviously my tastes have changed over time. But mostly though, I thought of the people that would be there. Not even the groom, but – I thought about my parents. I was always going in and out of foster care, and people were coming to see me sometimes. And with the ones I liked, I imagined them at my wedding. How my mom would do my hair. Or maybe my dad would cry as he gave me away. And the father-daughter dance. Or a speech about what an amazing daughter I was and how happy it made my mom that I found the one. I used to think about it a lot.”

Ray nodded. Gideon’s lack of ‘family’ so to speak had been the cornerstone for many of their discussions and arguments in the past. Gideon always maintained she was unlovable and Ray maintained that she just didn’t know where to look. Ever since Rip came into the picture, she had gotten so much better about it. She never used to use the word ‘love’ as freely as she did with Rip. She didn’t like children and panicked at the sight of them, but she loved spending time with Jonas. Even if it was for horror movies that she hated.

“This has been bothering you a lot, hasn’t it?” Ray asked. Of course she would want a family with her on her wedding day. He was an idiot for not thinking about it before.

“No actually. That’s not what’s bothering me,” Gideon admitted. She took a step towards him as she spoke, “Traditionally, Rip would have gone to my father for permission to marry me. Instead he went to you.”

“He was serious about that?” Ray asked confused, “I just thought he wanted help with the ring and added that in as a joke. As if I have any say over what you do.”

“No, you don’t. But he also wanted your blessing. I would too,” Gideon added.

“Which he automatically has. You both do. I’ve never seen you as happy with anyone as you are with Rip.”

“He went to you, because you are the closest person to me.”

“Am I?” Ray asked doubtfully.

Gideon gave a small nod. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she spoke, “Ray, I don’t have a mother or a father. I don’t have a traditional family. And I – traditionally Rip would have gone to my father for permission. And traditionally, my father would walk me down the aisle. I don’t have a father. But, I have you.”

“Gideon?” Ray whispered as he caught on to where this was leading. Where he hoped this was leading.

“You are the only family I’ve ever really had. The only person that never gave up on me no matter how much hell I put you through,” Gideon and Ray shared a small laugh as they remembered the early days of their friendship. Gideon straightened herself and picked up her courage, speaking clearly, “Ray, I don’t want you as a Man of Honor or groomsmen or any of that. I want you to give me away.”

“I, uh,” Ray cleared his throat and wiped his eye surreptitiously, “You want me to walk you down the aisle?”

“If –if you want to,” Gideon nodded, her voice wavering slightly. She hoped he wanted to.

“I – yes. Yes! Of course I will,” Ray moved forward and scooped her up into a hug. Gideon let out a wet laugh into his shoulder.

“Thank you,” Gideon breathed against him.

“No,” Ray shook his head, “Thank you. I was worried there before. It sounded like you didn’t even want me in your wedding and I – I’m sorry for how I acted, Gideon. Especially when you brought me food, we’re totally having lunch. Again, in my case.”

“Yes, well,” Gideon sniffed, “Over ten years together and that’s what it finally takes for you to snap at me. It’s rather impressive.”

“My mother always said I had the patience of a saint,” Ray laughed. He pulled away from her, “Your eyes are watering.”

“Allergies,” Gideon dismissed.

“Uh huh,” Ray smiled at her, “There’s not a single flower in this office. Here.” He handed her a tissue to clean her face. When she offered to share, he shook his head. Ray wiped at his eyes, “Doesn’t matter if I cry. I’m not the one that cares if people notice.”

Gideon hummed, “Well if I were to cry, they would be really happy tears right now.”

“Thank you. I – this means a lot to me. I always thought Violet would be the only one I might have to give away,” Ray joked.

“Well now you get to have some practice,” Gideon played along. She looked down nervously, “Anyways, it’s me who should be thanking you. Not just for this, for everything you’ve done for me.”

“Gideon-”

Gideon threw herself into his arms. Ray let out a grunt but wrapped his arms around her automatically, the same way Rip always did with Jonas.

“You’re my brother.”

“I know,” Ray said. After all, it was a self-appointed title.

“You’ve always been there for me, through everything. And you never gave up on me. I wouldn’t want anyone else to give me away,” Gideon told him, “You are my family. You’re the one who taught me what love was. You helped make me who I am today and I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you. So, thank you. For everything.”

“I know. You’re my sister, of course I know,” Ray repeated as he squeezed her tight, listening to her unsaid words, “And I love you too.”


	2. One Month Anniversary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gideon burst out, “I know it’s irrational. I know you don’t want to get back together with her, or at least you’d never cheat on me. But I hate it. I hate how insecure I get whenever she’s around, how I want to cry every time she makes you laugh, I hate the sick feeling in my stomach whenever you mention what you loved about her. And I hate that I’m constantly comparing myself to her. I told you it was stupid. Jealousy is stupid, unattractive, illogical and just messy. And I hate that you made me feel this way.”
> 
> As Rip and Gideon approach their one month anniversary, they come to realize that just because they’re finally together doesn’t mean all the hard work is done. Also known as the jealousy fic.

“You should really repaint the walls; they could use a touch up.”

“The walls are fine,” Rip glowered at the woman sitting across from him, “How long are you staying for again?”

“Don’t be such a child, Rip,” Miranda scolded in response, “I’m only here for a couple of weeks.”

“So you’re having Thanksgiving with us, right?” Jonas asked for confirmation.

“Of course I am, Sweetheart,” Miranda smiled and pulled her son in for a hug and kiss on the cheek. Jonas of course wiped his cheek immediately but grinned back and clung to her side on the couch.

“That is of course assuming Mother wants you there. After last time,” Rip couldn’t help but annoy his ex-wife some more.

“That was entirely your fault!” Miranda snapped, “Besides it’s been years. I’ve been at Thanksgivings after our divorce too.”

“Grandma wants her there, right Dad?” Jonas asked unsurely.

“Of course she does,” Rip assured. Mary still loved Miranda even after the divorce, once she had finally accepted they were getting a divorce. “I just like giving your mother a hard time. Only fun I get.”

“What a sad and boring life you must live without me,” Miranda quipped. Rip shot her another dirty look at that, but chose not to respond after the heavy sigh Jonas gave. Sometimes it was hard to remember that the easy banter he and Miranda had wasn’t always well-received by their son. Luckily, they were saved by the doorbell.

“Ah, I was wondering what was taking them all so long. Normally everyone’s flooding in for game night,” Rip said as he went to open the door. Ray, Nate and Gideon entered the house. Rip wasted no time in pulling Gideon towards him for a hug and quick kiss (ignoring the groaning from Nate and the cooing from Ray). “Hi,” he smiled dumbly at her.

“Hi,” Ray interrupted the intense staring the two of them had going on. As cute as they were, sometimes they needed a reminder they weren’t the only ones in the room. “Hope we’re not late.”

“No, no,” Rip cleared his throat as he remembered himself, “You’re actually the first ones here.”

“Awesome! No Lily, Caitlin or Cisco this time. They’ve got work to do at the labs,” Ray informed them.

“What a shame. Well, shall we?” Rip gestured towards the hall to the living room. Nate and Ray walked ahead while Rip took Gideon with an easy arm around her waist.

“Miranda,” Gideon greeted in surprise as they reached the living room, “I didn’t know you were visiting.”

“I usually try to get the holidays off for Jonas. So I came home for Thanksgiving,” Miranda explained.

“Oh, well that’s great,” Gideon commented somewhat awkwardly, “It’s good to see you again.” She wasn’t entirely sure what the proper etiquette was around your boyfriend’s ex-wife. Gideon held out her arms – did she like hugs? Rip did – and then dropped them just as quickly, not knowing what to do.

“And you,” Miranda laughed as she pulled the younger woman in for a quick hug before returning to her son. Rip shrugged and took Gideon’s hand leading her to take a seat next to him. Ray easily ended up on the floor by Gideon’s legs with Nate awkwardly taking a seat next to him and pointedly ignoring Gideon’s annoyed look. Rip decided it was probably best not to ask why Gideon was angry with the man this time. He also didn’t ask why Miranda was looking in his direction every so often from her conversation with Jonas to send him confused looks.

The group talked amongst themselves, with Rip getting up every so often to answer the door. The Snart and Lance siblings arrived together. After them Barry, Iris and Wally all with numerous apologies and Iris had been nice enough to bring a cheese platter so Rip forgave them rather easily. Then Kendra, Jax and Thea with Oliver and Felicity trailing down the path behind them.

“Don’t wait for them,” Thea said as she closed the door for Rip, “They’ve been arguing the entire time. Let them hash it out before coming in.”

“What are they arguing over?” Rip frowned as he followed his latest guests to the living room.

“Who’s arguing?” Jonas asked clearly overhearing the latter part of the conversation. Rip really needed to have a talk with his son about eavesdropping and gossiping.

“Oliver and Felicity,” Thea answered irritably.

“Oliver and Felicity are having problems?” Ray frowned as he and Nate looked to Gideon for clarification. She was closer to Felicity after all.

“I’ve been told to mind my own business,” Gideon muttered, “And she may still be slightly angry with me.”

“For something that you refuse to tell me about,” Ray reminded her. All he knew was that a few days ago his phone had blown up with texts from both women about how ungrateful and horrible the other was. At some point, he had to tell them both in no uncertain terms that they were grownups and would have to behave as proper adults. That of course started the current phase of the argument where they were both giving each other the silent treatment. Ray felt bad for Iris and Curtis for having to deal with it at work.

“You didn’t tell me you and Felicity were having problems,” Rip frowned at his girlfriend as he reclaimed his seat next to her. While he understood how close Gideon and Ray were, he thought she trusted him enough to share the same details about her personal life as she did with Ray.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal, and I saw no reason to worry you over it,” Gideon soothed as she grabbed his cheeks and kissed him on the lips. Rip had to remind himself that people were watching (including his young son) and he shouldn’t try and take it any further.

“Oh my god.”

Rip pulled away with a frown as he stared at his ex-wife who looked at the pair completely gob smacked.

“What?” he asked her.

“Oh my god,” Miranda repeated, still clearly in shock. Now Gideon looked at Rip’s ex strangely as well.

Before Rip could ask what was wrong with her, Oliver and Felicity finally came into the room. Felicity hurried in babbling, “Sorry, sorry! I know we’re late, we just had some issues – I mean we had to talk – I – what’s going on over here?” Felicity stopped her rambling as she took in the silent crowd and the look on Miranda’s face.

“Believe me, I’m wondering the same thing,” Rip commented.

“You two are together!” Miranda accused.

Rip blinked as he took Gideon’s hand, “I – yes?” Why was this news to her?

“You’re dating!”

“Yes, what is wrong with you?” Rip questioned.

“Well when were you going to tell me about this?” Miranda demanded, “How long has this even been going on?” On the floor, Sara was muffling her laughter while Leonard had a smirk on his face. The kind that clearly stated Rip was a dead man.

“You didn’t tell her we were dating?” Gideon asked as she shifted away slightly from Rip.

Rip frowned at the loss of contact as he hurried to say, “No, no, of course I told her. I must have-”

“Well you didn’t,” Miranda corrected with crossed arms, “I don’t even know who won the betting pool!”

“My ex-wife too?” Rip glared at the crowd, stopping on Kendra specifically. This was her fault in the first place. The young woman looked down, only somewhat ashamed. Rip turned back to his ex, “We haven’t even been together that long. I meant to tell you, and I just got sidetracked. That’s all.” He really had meant to tell Miranda, it wasn’t like it was something he would hide from her. He rather liked Gideon and he didn’t care who knew it. Besides, it was always better if Miranda found out about his love life from him and not someone else.

“We’ve been together for nearly a month,” Gideon stated quietly.

“What?” Rip looked at her in confusion.

“We’ve been together nearly a month – next week. You said it wasn’t that long,” Gideon explained.

“Well it’s only like three weeks,” Rip tried. Clearly, it was the wrong thing to say by the crinkle in Gideon’s brow. Peripherally, Rip was aware that Miranda and Len were shaking their heads at him and Ray was looking at Gideon worriedly. “Or it could be seven months if we want to count our time in denial,” he tried to joke with her instead, pulling her towards him. She remained stiff in his arms instead, not the slightest hint of a smile.

“Wow, you see what happens when couples don’t talk to each other and keep things hidden from each other?” Oliver commented sarcastically as he gestured from Rip to Miranda.

“They’re divorced,” Gideon said. Rip couldn’t help but notice the tightness in her tone and how her hands had somehow found her cellphone to clutch.

“I’m just saying, that maybe some things should be discussed. Especially when it comes to-”

“Can we not do this right now? In front of everyone? All our friends?” Felicity interrupted Oliver with a tense smile on her face.

“What is going on?” Nate asked tentatively.

“Why don’t you ask Gideon? This is all her fault anyways,” Felicity replied. Ray looked between the two women, so Felicity’s relationship issues were related to whatever argument Gideon and Felicity had. Good to know.

“I was trying to be helpful!” Gideon snapped.

“You were,” Oliver reassured her.

“Is someone going to explain what the hell is going on around here?” Sara demanded. Rip would chastise her for her use of vocabulary around his son, but honestly at this point Jonas had heard much worse.

“Felicity’s mother is visiting for Thanksgiving-” Oliver started.

“Because Gideon saw it fit to buy her a ticket from Vegas, without consulting me first,” Felicity blamed.

“And Felicity doesn’t want me to meet her,” Oliver finished while glaring at Felicity.

“Why don’t you want him to meet your mom?” Laurel asked, “You two have been together for a while.”

“Ollie may be annoying, but he usually behaves around parents,” Sara reassured, ignoring Oliver’s protests. Felicity let out a groan. On the ground, Ray and Nate had huge smiles on their faces.

“I feel like we’re missing something,” Rip observed.

“It’s not Oliver I’m worried about,” Felicity huffed, “It’s my mom. She’s just – she’s my mom.”

“Donna is awesome,” Ray commented, “I mean she’s – she’s Donna. A little over the top sometimes.”

“Uh huh, and?” Felicity deadpanned.

“And hot,” Nate finished. He got a lot of eyebrow raises and looks of disapproval at that.

“Do you just have a thing for blondes?” Gideon wondered aloud. After all, she had been a blonde when they had dated. So many mistakes in college.

“Hey! At least I’m not the one that asked if Felicity was adopted,” Nate defended himself.

“I said I was sorry about that!” Ray said sheepishly. He looked at Felicity, ever the voice of reason, “Your mother is not that bad. She just worries about you and you two don’t always see eye to eye but-”

“Really? That’s what you’re going with?” Felicity glowered, “The woman only ever cares about my love life, nothing about what I do for actual work. Dresses like a-”

Gideon interrupted, “She’s your mother, Felicity. Even if you don’t get along with her, at least you have her. And it’s the holidays, you’re supposed to be with your family. Even Miranda came home!” Rip kept an arm around Gideon in an effort to calm her down, but it didn’t seem to be working much. He knew she felt strongly about this because of her own lack of blood-related family.

“As the only mother here,” Miranda started as she looked at the group with a frown. They needed friends with children at some point. “Spending time with your child, especially when you don’t get to see them, that’s a true gift.”

Felicity groaned, “Did you just pull the mom card?”

“Yes, I did,” Miranda smiled.

“No wonder you two were married,” Felicity commented to Rip. He shrugged easily at the comment, a smile on his face. Beside him, Gideon squirmed uneasily.

“Okay, fine!” Felicity conceded, “We can have dinner tomorrow night.” Oliver grinned and kissed Felicity as his sister groaned in the background. “I better not regret this. And then I guess we can all have brunch with my mom on Sunday,” Felicity offered an olive branch. Ray and Nate responded enthusiastically while Gideon simply nodded, but with a smile on her face.

“Dinner is perfect,” Oliver agreed, “What about Thanksgiving?”

“No, no,” Felicity shook her head, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Besides, I think we’ll be joining the Steins this year. It’s tradition.” Oliver nodded, accepting what he got. Besides, this meant he got to spend the holiday with Thea anyways.

“What about you?” Rip turned to Gideon. Seeing her confused look, he clarified, “Would –would you like to have Thanksgiving dinner with us?”

“Oh it’ll be so much fun, Gideon!” Jonas said excitedly, “Grandma’s coming. And Mom makes an amazing green bean casserole. And Dad’s turkey is the best! It’ll be awesome!”

“It’s true,” Miranda commented, “And he makes good gravy. Although, I feel differently about it now that I’ve actually worn it.”

“Better than having mashed potatoes thrown at your face,” Rip quipped. Len shook his head, that was one thanksgiving no one would soon forget. Rip looked at Gideon, “So what do you say?”

Gideon refused to look at him as she said with a quiet but steady voice, “I think we should start game night. We’ve really spent enough time talking.”

Rip watched her with a frown as she pointedly got up and moved next to Iris as they started picking teams. He knew something was wrong; he just didn’t have a clue as to what.

* * *

 

“Knock, knock,” Rip called as he knocked on Gideon’s open door before stepping into her office.

Gideon popped up from under her desk and stared at him, “What are you doing here?”

“I had some extra time, thought I could take you out to lunch?” Rip offered. The scene reminded him so much of how he and Gideon first met, he couldn’t help but comment on it. “It’s funny, we met just like this. You popped up from behind your desk, beautiful as ever. And then conned me into having lunch with you.”

“I did not,” Gideon huffed, “I asked, you said yes. You remember all that?”

“Of course I do, and apparently so do you,” Rip commented lightly, appreciating the blush on her cheeks, “So lunch?”

“I’m really busy,” Gideon looked around at all the papers on her desk.

“You’re always busy,” Rip corrected, “And I didn’t get to see you much this past weekend since game night.”

“Right, sorry. I just got caught up with showing Donna – Felicity’s mum – around town,” Gideon explained, still not making eye contact.

“So I take it you and Felicity are back on good terms?” Rip asked.

“Yes. We’ve never quite been able to agree on the topic of her mother. I suppose I feel rather strongly on the subject,” Gideon admitted.

Rip nodded, “As you should.” He watched her pace her office as she reorganized her books and papers. The next time he wandered by him, Rip grabbed her by her waist and pulled her to him, completely ignoring her shrieks and indignant cry of his name. “Do you realize I’ve been here for nearly five minutes and you haven’t even kissed me hello yet? Honestly Gideon, I’m wounded.”

Gideon giggled at his pouting face before kissing him soundly, “Hello, Rip.”

“That’s better,” Rip smiled as he ran his hands up and down her sides. He couldn’t help but ask, “Are we okay?”

“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t we be?”

“You left in a hurry on game night. And you seemed a bit out of sorts,” Rip said. He had asked her to stay a bit longer when everyone was leaving, he could have given her a ride home. But she insisted on leaving with Ray and Nate. She usually stayed.

“I’m fine,” Gideon responded as she placed her hands on his shoulders, “I just had a lot on my mind. Work, the stupid argument with Felicity. Just a lot of stuff going on in there,” Gideon gestured to her head, “You know what I’m like.”

“Yes, I do,” Rip accepted as she pulled away again. He watched her as he proceeded, “Miranda might have said it was something else. You know, with her staying over without me asking you, and how you might have felt a bit put out by it.” Honestly he hadn’t thought anything of it until Miranda had asked him if he’d talked to Gideon about her staying with Rip. Apparently, his dumbfounded silence had been enough for Miranda, as she called him an idiot and explained what was going on with his girlfriend.

“You’re asking your ex-wife for advice about your current relationship?” Gideon asked coldly.

“No one asked her for anything, she just can’t seem to leave me alone. But, I guess?” Rip got the feeling he had just made things worse again. “Gideon, I’m really confused as to what is going on here.”

Gideon shook her head and huffed, “Nothing, nothing is going on. I’m just being strange. I’m sorry. I don’t mind Miranda staying with you, she always has. Why should that change? Now, you said something about lunch?”

“Yes,” Rip agreed as he walked over to her and cradled her in his arms again. He rather liked this as their default position. “While we’re at it, maybe we can talk Thanksgiving dinner also?”

“What about it?”

“You never gave me an answer,” Rip told her, “Would you like to have Thanksgiving dinner with me and my family?”

“Oh,” Gideon looked down and played with the fabric of his shirt. Rip reached out and tilted her chin up until she at least looked at him through her eyelashes. “I – I just don’t know if I’m ready, for all of that. Right now,” her voice was quiet and apologetic.

“Alright then.”

“Is, is that okay?”

Rip gave her a soft smile, “Of course it’s okay. I won’t lie, I’m a bit upset, but I always want you all to myself. I imagine you’ll spend the day with Ray?” Gideon nodded. “Right,” Rip sighed, “Well it’s a real shame. Between Miranda and me, we cook up an amazing feast. Especially with Jax and his mom joining us this year.”

“Clarissa and Ray are great cooks as well,” Gideon snapped.

“I was only teasing, Gideon,” Rip frowned as he ran his hand down her arm.

Gideon closed her eyes with a sigh, “Yes, of course you were. I knew that. I’m sorry.” She had a lost look on her face and Rip couldn’t help but kiss it off her face.

“So we won’t spend Thanksgiving together. What about dinner on Saturday?” Rip asked.

“As a makeup Thanksgiving?”

“As a one month anniversary celebration,” Rip chuckled.

“Oh,” Gideon looked at him in surprise, “Do you want to? I know you don’t think it’s a big deal-”

“I do,” Rip cut her off, “I do, because it’s you. And I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that I don’t care about it, because I do. I just get sidetracked sometimes with every other chaotic thing in my life. But I do want to celebrate.”

“We could have dinner, at my place?” Gideon offered tentatively.

“That sounds lovely,” Rip smiled. He cleared his throat, finding the words to make one last request, “Just, um, no gifts? I’m not really big on celebrating every little milestone with presents. Just the big ones.”

“And what counts as the big ones?” Gideon questioned.

Rip shook his head at her with a laugh, “I’ll let you know when we get there.” He didn’t want Gideon spending all that money on him, and knowing Gideon she would. He didn’t need any presents, he just wanted her.

“Alright then, Mr. Hunter,” Gideon rolled her eyes with a fake pout, “Have it your way.”

“Thank you, I love it when everything goes my way,” Rip teased before pulling her in for another kiss.

* * *

 

Rip had meant to knock on the door, like a good guest, but the shouted curse from inside made him change his mind and just use the spare key to open Gideon’s door. When he let himself in, it was to the chaos of Gideon pulling a smoking dish out of the oven and the smoke detector howling at her. Rip decided to help her out and disabled the smoke detector for her. Apparently, the sudden silence alerted her to his presence.

“Bloody hell, Rip!” Gideon gasped as she dropped the pan on the stove, “What are you doing here?”

“Did we not decide we were having our one-month anniversary dinner tonight? Here?” Rip teased with a grin, “But to be honest, maybe we do spend too much time together. All my bad language is rubbing off on you.”

“Shut up,” Gideon retorted, “I know we have our dinner. But you’re early, it’s not for another hour! And I’m not even dressed properly!” She gestured to her outfit, which consisted of her usual sweats and tank top when she was lounging about in her home.

“Actually I’m only ten minutes early,” Rip corrected her.

Gideon grabbed her phone from the counter and found Rip was telling the truth. “Well, bollocks,” Gideon frowned, “Oh dear, apparently you are a bad influence on me.”

“I think I like it, actually,” Rip stepped forward to give her a kiss only to have Gideon step out of his reach.

“No, I’m a complete mess. I’m not dressed, and dinner is a disaster,” Gideon began listing everything that was wrong.

“You look absolutely as beautiful as ever,” Rip assured as he pulled her by the waist, “And I’m hardly dressed up in a suit for you. So I think we’re both fine in the clothing department.” Gideon huffed at his logic but didn’t move when he leaned in to kiss her this time. “Now, what’s this about dinner?”

Gideon pointed to the charred pan and the skillet on the stove, “I was trying to make lasagna. Instead it’s just a burnt disaster.”

Rip walked over and scraped the black bits on top with a wooden spoon, it didn’t really look salvageable. “Yes, it does seem that way. What’s wrong with the vegetables?” he nodded to the skillet. Gideon’s frown just deepened, so he popped a few carrots into his mouth to see for himself. He swallowed slowly and did his best not to choke on it.

“Oh, it’s terrible,” Gideon cried at the look on his face.

“No, no,” Rip shook his head, “I – it’s just a little salty, that’s all.”

“A little?” Gideon raised her eyebrow at him.

“Maybe more than a little,” Rip admitted, “Actually a glass of water would be nice.” Gideon gave a small laugh as she filled him a glass of water and handed it to him.

“I can’t believe you actually ate it. You must really like me,” she teased him.

“I really do,” Rip told her quite seriously as he took a sip of his water.

Gideon looked away from his intense look with a sigh, “Serves me right, I suppose. I’m terrible in the kitchen, and I just wanted to do something nice for you for once-”

“Gideon, you do plenty of nice things for me,” Rip argued as he tugged her towards him, “You’re always helping Jonas with his math homework, and you almost always pay for all our dates, and-”

“But it’s not the same as doing something for you,” Gideon cut him off, “Not like how you’re always looking after me, making me dinner, making sure I don’t work too hard.”

“I do that for everyone really,” Rip admitted. Somehow, he had been proclaimed as the unofficial dad of his group of friends, “Because no one else really can.”

“I bet Miranda could cook you a perfect dinner,” Gideon remarked bitterly. Her eyes widened as she realized what she had said and she tried to backtrack, “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t-”

“The only reason Miranda even knows how to cook is because she had to learn after we got married and had Jonas. And while she is a decent cook, you can be damn well sure she’s not going to make me dinner unless Jonas asked her to,” Rip rebuked her sternly. Gideon looked down in embarrassment as Rip asked softly, “Now, do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing.”

“Bollocks Gideon,” Rip said angrily, “It’s not nothing, stop saying it is. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s nothing because I don’t want to get into an argument over something stupid with you on our anniversary and have you break up with me over it,” Gideon let out. When she looked up, Rip could see her eyes shining with tears. But she took a deep breath and blinked a few times and her face was back to its impassive exterior.

“There is nothing wrong with arguing,” Rip told her quietly, “It doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with our relationship or that we’re going to break up. The whole entire point of a relationship is being able to communicate. And I happen to like it when you argue with me; it’s one of the things that first attracted me to you.” Gideon snorted, of course he did. Rip loved headstrong women that called him out on his idiocy. “Please tell me what’s wrong,” Rip tried again.

Gideon shrugged, “I don’t know. I just don’t like you talking about Miranda all the time.”

“You’re jealous?” Rip frowned in confusion.

Gideon gave him a dirty look, “You spend half your time talking about how wonderful she is, and she comes around for every special event, and you didn’t tell her about us, and then all those inside jokes – of course I’m bloody jealous!”

“I didn’t tell her about us because it honestly just slipped my mind, it’s not like I’m trying to hide you from her. She comes around for the holidays for Jonas, not me. And if I do talk about her, I assure you it’s not because I want to get back together with her. We’ve talked about this,” Rip said incredulously, “There’s nothing to be jealous of”

“Do you think I don’t already know that?” Gideon burst out, “I know it’s irrational. I know you don’t want to get back together with her, or at least you’d never cheat on me. But I hate it. I hate how insecure I get whenever she’s around, how I want to cry every time she makes you laugh, I hate the sick feeling in my stomach whenever you mention what you loved about her. And I hate that I’m constantly comparing myself to her. I told you it was stupid. Jealousy is stupid, unattractive, illogical and just messy. And I hate that you made me feel this way.”

Rip stood there in silence as Gideon walked around him and dumped out the lasagna and vegetables before placing the empty dishes in the sink. She sighed as she looked at him before heading to the living room and curling up on the sofa. Only a few moments later Rip was once again by her side as he sat next to her and ran his fingers through her hair.

“I happen to know how annoying it is to feel this way. It sucks, doesn’t it?” he asked gently.

“How would you know?” Gideon asked miserably before bitterly continuing, “Is there someone in Miranda’s life that you’re jealous of?”

“Not Miranda’s life, no,” Rip chuckled.

Gideon turned to him with a small frown of confusion, “My life? But I’ve never even had a proper relationship for you to be jealous of.” Rip gave her an indulgent smile before shifting their position so that Gideon’s legs were thrown over his lap as she rested her back against the armrest.

“Maybe not romantic, but like I’ve said before, you and Ray are extremely close.” Seeing that Gideon was about to say something, Rip cut her off with a shrug, “It’s like you said, jealousy is highly illogical. I know you don’t think of him that way, and he doesn’t think that of you. But that doesn’t mean I don’t get jealous of how he gets you on some of our date nights, how you always call him first about what’s going on in your life.”

“Why are you so much better at it?” Gideon whined, “I can barely even think of Miranda and you’ve never even seemed to care about Ray and I.”

“I do,” Rip told her, “I just have more experience with it. I’ve accepted that I am terribly possessive in relationships and I’ve had time to work on it. It drove Miranda up the wall – I’m not helping things, am I?”

“No,” Gideon muttered quietly as her stomach twisted. She played with her hands as she spoke, “It’s stupid. You were in a committed relationship to her for nearly ten years. One month doesn’t compare to that.”

“No, but one month is the start of something. Something that lasts for a very long time I hope.”

“Me too. It’s silly because I don’t think I even realized I was jealous at first. I don’t think I’ve ever had a relationship where I’ve cared this much,” Gideon admitted. Rip simply squeezed her thigh in response.

“It’s not like you tell me about your previous relationships anyways. Not even about Nate,” Rip said nonchalantly.

“There’s nothing to say,” Gideon told him, “None of them lasted.”

“But it’s not just that,” Rip ran a hand through his hair, “It’s that you don’t tell me the details when you’re stressed with work, when you’ve had a bad day, you don’t even tell me that you had a fight with Felicity. You don’t tell me a lot of things. But you do tell Ray.”

“Ray’s always been there for me. I never had anyone else that I could rely on; I’m not quite used to it.”

“I know, and I’m trying to be patient, I am,” Rip told her as he recalled their conversation on their first date. How Gideon was afraid to trust in their relationship. “But you have to give me a chance sometimes. I’m here too now, and I don’t have any plans of going anywhere any time soon. I’m yours, for however long you’ll have me.”

“Are you?” Gideon asked timidly.

“Yes, I am,” Rip took Gideon’s hands in his own, “Miranda is my ex, the only one that I have that’s worth mentioning. And I’m sorry if I do mention her all too often; I really don’t mean anything by it.”

“I know,” Gideon said quietly, “Jealousy really sucks. I don’t like it.”

“I know it does.”

“I know rationally, you’re telling me the truth. But I still feel awful thinking about you two together,” Gideon frowned.

“So do I, actually,” Rip snorted at the thought, “She’s in my past; we’re not getting back together. Especially not when I have you. Okay?”

Gideon nodded, “I know you’re reassuring me, but what if it’s not all gone?”

“It won’t be, but we’ll work on it, okay?” Rip looked at her, “I’m not losing you over something like this. Jealousy on both our ends, that’s just stupid.” Gideon gave him a small smile before repositioning them so that Rip was stretched out on the couch and she was curled on top of him, her head tucked nicely against his neck. “Well hello there,” Rip chuckled with an arm on her back.

“Hello,” Gideon gave him a kiss before contemplating, “We really make quite the pair, you know?” Rip gave a hum so Gideon continued, “Me being emotionally stunted, you being over possessive.”

“You’re not emotionally stunted,” Rip dismissed without protest, “I, however, am overly possessive. I told you before, I don’t like sharing you.”

“I’m yours too,” Gideon told him softly. She let out a sigh as she apologized, “Sorry for running our anniversary.”

“You didn’t ruin anything – well maybe dinner, but that’s perfectly fine. We needed this conversation, and I’d rather us have it now than have it blow up into anything bigger.”

“Well what do we do now?” Gideon asked. Much of their night had been taken by the heart to heart and honestly, she was starving now.

“Well, I still have a while before I’m expected home,” Rip said, “So, how about we get delivery and put on one of those ridiculous romcoms you love so much?”

“Don’t trash talk my taste in movies, Mr. Hunter,” Gideon narrowed her eyes at him.

“Never,” Rip grinned as he kissed her, “But I would be nicer about it if Len wasn’t constantly calling us a Hallmark movie.”

“He’ll get over it. Besides, I like Hallmark movies.”

“Of course you do.” Gideon playfully shoved him as she got off him to find her stack of delivery menus. Rip looked at her curiously for a moment before finally gathering the courage to ask, “Just one more question – did you try and cook dinner as your way of getting back at Miranda?”

Gideon blushed as she covered her face with her hands, “Oh, please don’t tell me how stupid I was being.”

“Okay, I won’t.” Gideon moved her hands to see Rip grinning at her.

She huffed, “I take back anything bad I may have said about Miranda in my jealous rage. Clearly, she’s a saint for having put up with you for ten years. Think she’ll take you back?”

“Absolutely not,” Rip pulled her by her shirt to give her a kiss, “I’m afraid you’re stuck with me now.”

“Good,” Gideon smiled. She took a step back, “Pick a movie. I’ll find us some dinner.”

Rip shook his head at her before reaching for the remote and queueing up a movie on Netflix for them. Gideon finally returned with multiple paper menus, “We have choices of Indian, Chinese, Mediterranean – probably not that one. They know me too well. I burn dinner quite often actually.”

Rip chuckled as he took the menus from her, “Chinese then.”

“Sounds perfect,” Gideon agreed, “Did you pick a movie?”

Rip nodded at the screen, “Acceptable?”

“I suppose so,” Gideon said as she cuddled up next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder and threw an arm around his middle as his arm came around her shoulders. Gideon handed him her phone, “Go ahead and order whatever you like.”

Rip rolled his eyes, “You just don’t want to talk on the phone.” Gideon smiled innocently at him and he couldn’t help but do as she asked. Once he hung up, they played the movie, with only minimal rude commentary from Rip.

“We don’t have to watch if you don’t want to,” Gideon snarked.

“I want to, I promise. Sorry, I’ll behave,” Rip laughed at her agitation as he rubbed her shoulder blades to soothe her.

“Oh, that feels nice,” Gideon moaned, “Cooking all day is really no fun. Especially when it all goes to hell.”

“You cooked all day?” Rip asked.

“I told you, I’m not very good at it. And even then I didn’t finish in time and it was ruined anyways.”

“Sounds like a lot. Would you like to tell me about it?” Rip offered tentatively.

Gideon looked at him, recognizing the chance he was giving her, “Yes, I would love to.” Rip let Gideon rant on about her day and how everything had gone wrong. He interjected in certain parts, and laughed at others (which of course made Gideon rather annoyed) but he listened to all of it. He even offered her cooking lessons which Gideon declined (Clarissa had already tried with her and it was a disaster) so he simply offered to cook her dinner whenever she liked instead. That, she accepted.

It wasn’t until halfway through their meal when the movie was simply playing as background noise that Gideon commented again on their circumstances, “I don’t think we’re doing this dating thing properly.”

“Why would you say that?” Rip frowned.

“I’m a matchmaker, Rip. Our first date consisted of us ditching a fancy restaurant and our one-month anniversary consists of us eating takeout and watching Netflix. Trust me; this doesn’t consist of normal dating routine. Most people give their relationship milestones more glamour.”

“Aren’t you the one that’s always talking about how it’s not about the date, but the person,” Rip reminded her, “So our dates are a little abnormal. Our first date consisted of us finally realizing we liked each other, and our one-month anniversary consisted of us having a very important conversation we needed to have. I’d say we’re doing pretty good relationship wise.”

“You think?”

“I know,” Rip told her seriously, “If it bothers you that much, then we’ll just do something big for our one year anniversary. I’ll make it special, promise.”

“Oh really?” Gideon teased, her heart beating rapidly at how easily he believed they would still be together then.

“Of course,” he leaned in as he whispered, “I’ll even let you buy me a present.”

Gideon giggled as Rip pulled her into his lap again. Her arms linked around his neck as he held her steady. She kissed him while teasing him, “I am definitely holding you to that, Mr. Hunter. Our one year better be amazing.”

“It will be,” Rip promised. After all, it was him and Gideon. How could it not be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have way too much fun making a trope out of all their relationship milestones being not all that fancy...makes me wonder what'll happen at their wedding.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Kudos/comments with your thoughts/comments/concerns?

**Author's Note:**

> I forgot how much I loved this AU. And hopefully more stories from this universe are coming. Kudos/comment with thoughts/concerns/prompts?


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